In the latest turn of events, with the world all across watching Trump make his next unexpected move, the US President recently met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 7. The two global leaders repeated their controversial proposal to forcibly transfer thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip, move that has sent shockwaves across the international media already.
Trump and Netanyahu met for dinner at the former’s official residence as indirect talks being held in Qatar between Israel and Hamas on US-backed proposals for a 60-day ceasefire to end the long-standing Gaza war appeared to pick some temporary momentum.
Netanyahu told the press officials present at the meeting that the United States and Israel were working collaboratively with other countries to give Palestinians a ‘better future’, suggesting that the residents of Gaza could move to neighbouring nations as a consequence of this impending displacement.
“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn’t be a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice,” Netanyahu was quoted as stating the reporters.
“We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we’re getting close to finding several countries”, he mentioned additionally.
US President Donald Trump, who earlier this year caused an unexpected outrage when he floated his idea of relocating Palestinians and taking over the Hamas-Gaza Strip to transform it into a ‘Riviera of the Middle East’. He opined there had been great cooperation on the matter from surrounding countries and a similar opinion has been reflected by Israelis too. However, they have termed it as ‘voluntary migration’ of Palestinians from their homelands, receiving widespread condemnation on account of being masked as ethnic cleansing.
Trump and Netanyahu, the current strongest allies met as Israeli and Hamas negotiators held a second day of indirect talks in Qatar, seated in different rooms in the same building. Proposals for a 60-day pause in fighting envisage a phased release of Hamas-held captives and Palestinian prisoners, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions on completely ending the war.
Hamas has said it was willing to free all the captives in exchange for return of the Palestinian prisoners and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu, the Israeli PM however reiterated his stance on ending the war officially only when Hamas managed to surrender, disarm and go into exile – something the Palestinian group refuses to do.
Nobel Prize Nomination
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s discussions came just over a fortnight after the former ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes, before announcing a complete ceasefire in the 12-day prolonged Israel-Iran war.
During their meeting, Netanyahu stumped the attendees and handed over a sealed letter to Trump and stated that he had decided to nominate the US President for the coveted Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing quite pleased by the gesture, thanked him and appreciated this advancement.
Helene Elliott is the senior reporter for News Raise. She covers Science news. She also has a keen interest in photojournalism. Helene holds a nomination for the prestigious Red Smith Award. She is married to author Dennis D’Agostino, a former publicist with the New York Mets.
